Plastic bristle mat and holder for winding on a street sweeping broom

ABSTRACT

A PLASTIC BRISTLE MAT FORMED OF A SUCCESSION OF INDIVIDUAL BRISTLES, MULTI-LAYERED THICK AND INTERCONNECTED BY MEANS OF A PAIR OF SPACED SEAMS OF A FLEXIBLE FILAMENT OR THREAD STITCHED CROSSWISE TO THE BRISTLES. THE STITCHING SIDES OF A CENTER PORTION OF THE BRISTLES. THE STICTHING ALLOWS SOME RELATIVE MOVEMENT OF THE INDIVIDUAL BRISTLES AND BENDABILITY OF THE MAT TRANSVERSE TO THE LONGITUDINAL AXIS OF THE MAT. A PREDETERMINED LENGTH OF THE MAT IS STORED IN A STORAGE CONTAINER WHICH IS REMOVABLY MOUNTED ADJACENT A FEED CONVEYOR AND THE MAT IS UNIFORMLY FED FROM THE CONTAINER AUTOMATICALLY INTO A CORE, WHICH COULD HAVE VARIOUS CONFIGURATIONS. THE CORE IS DISPOSED ABOUT A SHAFT TO FORM A BROOM. THE CONTAINER MOVES WITH THE CONVEYOR.

Feb. 2, 1971 w, GOULD PLASTIC BRISTLE MAT AND HOLDER FOR WINDING ON A STREET SWEEPING BROOM Filed July 1'7, 1968 INVENTOR. WILLIAM GOULD Ha MJKM ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,560,051 PLASTIC BRISTLE MAT AND HOLDER FOR WIND- ING ON A STREET SWEEPING BROOM William Gould, 93 Sagamore Road, Miilbum, NJ. 07041 Filed July 17, 1968, Ser. No. 745,429 Int. Cl. A4611 9/00 US. Cl. 300-14- 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A plastic bristle mat formed of a succession of individual bristles, multi-layered thick and interconnected by means of a pair of spaced seams of a flexible filament or thread stitched crosswise to the bristles on opposite sides of a center portion of the bristles. The stitching allows some relative movement of the individual bristles and bendability of the mat transverse to the longitudinal axis of the mat. A predetermined length of the mat is stored in a storage container which is removably mounted adjacent a feed conveyor and the mat is uniformly fed from the container automatically into a core, which could have various configurations. The core is disposed about a shaft to form a broom. The container moves with the conveyor.

The present invention relates to plastic bristle mats and a holder for continuously feeding the bristles to form a broom for a street sweeper or other power-driven broom, of the type employed by municipalities, industry, highway departments and the like, for sweeping pavements, roads, streets and runways. Such brooms comprise a core or channel into which the bristles are placed and held in some manner, such as a spiral groove, wherein a wire or cable effectively secures the apex of the bristles into a V- or U-shaped form and holds the bight of the bristles within the groove. When the bristles become worn, they are removed and renewed and the usual practice is for the broom user to perform the bristle renewing job with its own winding machines and personnel. Another form is straight channels containing the bristles which are mounted longitudinally about the periphery of the broom.

The present invention uses bristle mats, including bristles made in accordance with Pat. 3,216,038, entitled Synthetic Plastic Broom Bristles. In this patent, a mat was provided having a series of aligned synthetic, linearly oriented plastic bristles, with a central portion having relatively greater bendability transverse to the axis of the bristle and about the longitudinal axis of the mat and less bend recovery than the remainder of the bristle, thereby allowing ease of manipulation of the bristles to enable the bristles to be anchored in the core groove under the retaining cable. The individual bristles were securely joined to each other by plastic beads to form the mat, which made difficult the bending the mat transverse to the longitudinal axis of mat.

Heretofore winding of a street broom was a slow arduous job, since there was no equipment to feed a continuous mat to automatic winding apparatus. This required the mats to be precut into relatively short lengths, which in effect, the mats acted the same as a group of loose parallel aligned fibers, which the automatic winding apparatus was able to handle. Winding a broom for a street sweeper heretofore depended on the skill of the broom winder to determine how much bristle material was required to be placed in the core or channel for a given area. It has been the practice to feed the bristles in the core in small sized bundles as determined by the winder, so that the broom may have been heavily filled, lightly filled, or haphazardly filled depending upon the skill of the broom winder.

With the present invention, a broom can be filled for the desired use, such as light or heavy use, by predetermined, controlled loading of the desired thickness of the mat automatically, so that the exact weight of the required broom bristle can be evenly positioned along the core or channel to insure proper bristle spacing and fill, and thus allowing an unskilled worker to satisfactorily fill various types of broom cores, instead of an experienced worker.

Therefore, it is an objective of the present invention to prepare and assemble a continuous mat of the desired thickness and bendability, so as to be readily used with automatic bristle feeding equipment.

A further objective of the present invention is to provide storage of a continuous mat of plastic bristle having the desired thickness, which can be readily and quickly used with automatic broom winding equipment without requiring the handling of bristles by the operator.

A still further objective of the present invention is to provide a continuous multi-layered mat, which is readily stored for continuous, selected feeding into cores autocatically for broom refilling, so as to provide the desired thickness and weight of bristles on the broom in a simple, easy manner, allowing, if necessary, a further mat to be readily introduced consecutively.

These and other objects will be seen from the following specification in conjunction with the appended drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of automatic equipment winding a street sweeper broom illustrating one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view taken along line 22 of FIG. 1, diagrammatically illustrating winding a continuous mat on a street sweeper broom;

FIG. 3 is a front perspective view of one embodiment of a container storing a continuous mat;

FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic perspective view showing the manner in which a bristle mat, as shown, is produced; and

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view of a multilayered mat taken along line 55 of FIG. 4.

It will be understood that the above drawings illustrate merely a preferred embodiment of the invention used with winding a spiral core, and other embodiments are contemplated within the scope of the claims hereinafter set forth.

FIG. 1 shows a machine 10 for automatically placing bristles 11 spirally about the core of a street sweeping broom 13 and extending radially outwardly. As shown, a base 12 supports a frame, including opposite end members 14 and 16, respectively, which in turn support respectively end bearings, one of which is shown at 18. Bearings 18 in turn support a shaft 20 of the broom 13, about which shaft is mounted a spirally grooved core 22. Shaft 20 can be rotated, such as by means of gear reducing system 24, which in turn is powered by a motor 26. Rotating shaft 20 on which the broom core 22 is mounted, moves a carriage 28 parallel to the shaft 20. Movement of carriage 28 is synchronized with the rotation of shaft 20 in any convenient manner, such as wheels engaging the helix of the core, or gears, or the like, so as to move carriage 28 axial to shaft 20 a predetermined distance for each revolution of shaft 20. This distance is essentially the same as the helix of core 22.

Carriage 28 automatically feeds the central portion of the bristles in the form of mat 30, beneath a cable 32 into the spiral core 22. The mat 30 is fed from a storage container 34 by means of a pair of spaced apart endless conveyor belts 36, each having upstanding projections thereon. Container 34, as shown, is attached to the end of carriage 28 and has a mat support base 70 with upstanding rods 72 at each corner. Interconnecting rods 72 are generally a number of support bars 74 defining a mat receiving volume. Only one belt 36 is shown in FIG. 2, which is rotated by means of a motor 40 driving gear and chain arrangement 42, which in turn drives conveyor belt 36 about idler sprockets 44. Cable 32 is fed from a pulley 45 rottaably mounted on carriage 28 above conveyor belt 36 by brackets 48. At the end of carriage 28 adjacent core 22 are a pair of spaced arms 46 extending generally longitudinally from carriage 2.8 and generally coplanar with the upper belts of conveyor belts 36 and overlying core 22. Arms 46 straddle cable 32 and belts 36 and force the bristles of mat 39 to proceed from a parallel plane with respect to the axis of shaft 22 to a transverse position with respect to the axis of shaft 20, which is seen best in FIG. 2. This will be discussed in more detail hereafter.

Mat 30 is formed of a series of aligned bristles made of elongated synthetic thermoplastic material, such as nylon, polypropylene, or the like, and is preferably an extruded filament of predetermined cross section, the linear orientation of the fibres of the thermoplastic material being brought about by procedures involving the heating, stretching and quenching of the extruded filament. A preferred form of filament from which lengths of the bristle units may be cut is disclosed in prior patent for Synthetic Filaments and Methods of Making Same, Pat. 3,330,721. The filament, such as recited in this patent, has a high degree of stiffness, springiness and bend recovery suitable for broom bristle use. Bristles 11 are slippery and advantageously have their center portion 31 treated so as to make the center portion 31 substantially less resistent to bending and substantially more resistent to bend recovery than the remainder of the bristle unit, such as taught in Pat. 3,216,038. Thus, the bristle 11 may be easily bent transversely upon itself at the treated area 31, and the bend will be under a very low degree of stress with consequent less tendency to straighten. As illustrated in FIG. 4, mat 30 is formed from a succession of parallel individual bristles 11 spread into a selected depth containing multiple overlying bristles, and the individual bristles are sewn together in a double stitch transverse to the axes of the bristles and on opposite sides of the treated center portion 31 in a double seam 56. FIG. 4 diagrammatically shows a mat 36 being produced. The side by side bristles 11 are guided along an inclined chute 60 between pairs of conveyor belts 62, which support bristles 11 adjacent their ends. The desired overlying of bristles 11 is determined by adjusting the height of wheels 64 rotated by shaft 66, from the bristle support surface. The number of overlying bristles could vary, depending upon the diameter of the bristles and the thickness selected. Wheels 64 urge the desired quantity of overlying bristles 11 on belts 62 and under a pair of sewing needles 68, which stitch double seam 50 of flexible thread on opposite sides of the center and transverse to the axes of the bristles for holding the bristles 11 in position. The stitching allows some play of the individual bristles about the longitudinal axis of the mat and free foldability and bendability of the mat, but the double seam prevents the bristles from becoming misaligned or skewed during forming of the broom. The mat being freely bendable can be folded relatively flat in a serpentine form, as illustrated in FIG. 3, or rolled. FIG. 5 illustrates how the seam holds the strands together. The double seam 50 prevents the individual bristles 11 from moving out of alignment from the mat or skewing during forming of the broom and causing unevenness of the bristles mounted on the broom. Seams 50 enables the bristles 11 to be handled in a balanced manner and allows some movement of the bristles transverse to the length of the mat, so that the mat adapts and conforms to the movement of chain 36 and cable 32, without the individual 4 bristles 31 becoming misaligned during feeding and jamming the equipment.

Storage container 34 is removably mounted to the end of carriage 28 in some convenient manner, such as by hooks 33 on arms along one edge. Container 34 moves with carriage 28 during operation of the apparatus. Mounted substantially centrally of the mat receiving volume of container 34 and parallel to the axis of the individual bristles of the mat is a roller over which mat 36 is passed during feeding from the container for preventing mat from snagging on carriage 28 during operation. While roller 35 is shown rotatably mounted on arms 37, it can be mounted in any convenient position to aid in removing mat 30 smoothly and continuously during operation. Also, it can be a smooth surface. When a heavy mat 30 is used, such as a large length with a large thickness, i.e., over 100 pounds, container 34 is conveniently supported by a wheel or caster 54 mounted on a leg 56. Advantageously, leg 56 is collapsable in any convenient manner, such as telescoping, so as to withdraw wheel 54 from contacting the ground, when not needed. When required, leg 56 is extended so that wheel 54 rests on the floor and aids in supporting storage container 34 as it moves parallel to the axis of shaft 20 during operation.

In use, a predetermined length of mat 30 is fed into storage container 34 in a generally serpentine or rolled condition, so as to aid in easy smooth withdrawal. The spaced double stitching permits the free bending of the mat in the container without displacing the bristles. A portion of mat 30 is passed over roller 35 and fed onto teeth 38 of chains 36. Chains 36 support mat 30. During operation teeth 38 are moved in the direction shown by arrow 58 in FIG. 2, so that the upper teeth 38 move in a direction towards shaft 20, and carry mat 30 along with it. Mat. 30 is continuously pulled from container 34 automatically by conveyors 36 during the broom filling operation, without further etfort or handling by the operator. If desired, rather than mat 30 being placed directly within container 34, as shown, the shipping box containing the mat could be positioned in container 34. Shaft 20 is continuously rotated during the core filling operation, which in turn rotates core .22 at a predetermined angular speed.

The individual bristles 11 of mat 30 on belts 36 are substantially parallel to the axis of core 22. As the bristles of mat 30 approach core 22, by action of teeth 38 of conveyor belts 36, they pass beneath cable 32 which is positioned so as to exert a downward force on treated area 31 of mat 30. Cable 32 is wound about core 22 under tension as core 22 rotates, by fastening the lead end of the cable at the beginning of the spiral groove in core 22. Cable 32 passes about pulley 47, which is positioned to force the bristles downwardly. The central portion of bristles 11 of mat 30 adjacent core 22 is forced downwardly by cable 32 past arms 46 of carriage 28, so that the bight of the bristles of mat 30 is pressed and forced into the grooves of core 22 by cable 32, with the leg portions on opposite sides of treated area 31 projecting substantially radially from core 22. The force exerted on the bristles of the mat by cable 32 and arms 46 tend to misalign the bristles due to their tough slippery surface, which resists the cable force. However, the double seam 50 prevents any major bristle misalignment, which would jam the conveyor. The core is continuously rotated and mat 30 is continuously fed by conveyors 36 until the broom is completely wound and cable 32 is secured with respect to the core in some convenient manner. Container 34 moves with conveyor 36 during the winding. Advantageously, a sufficient length of mat is placed in storage container 34, so that the broom is Wound with the mat contained in storage 34. However, if necessary, additional containers 34 containing other mats can be quickly sub stituted for the empty container or another mat can be quickly placed in the empty container and fed onto chains 36, so as to form a continuous bristle fill throughout the groove in the broom core 22. The end use of the broom would determine how many layers of bristles the mat should have. The thickness of the mat chosen is ordinarily that only one pass be made to provide sufficient fill of bristles for the broom. While a thickness of about A inch, such as obtained with four strands of 0.075 inch diameter bristle, has been found to be highly adaptable in use, other thicknesses or other diameter size bristle could be used.

While the present invention has been described in connection with bristles mounted spirally about a shaft for a sweeper broom, it can also be used in feeding bristles into a straight channel, which channel is crimped to hold the bristles in position. The channels are then positioned longitudinally about the peripheral surface of the broom. As is common in the industry, the channels are usually fitted into grooves about the broom to give a continuous sweeping surface. To feed the bristles to the channels, the mat is stored and fed in generally the same manner as described above; however, the axis of conveyor 36 is disposed generally parallel to the axis of the channel core, instead of at right angles, as illustrated above with respect to the helical core. The present invention can be used with equipment feeding the bristles to channels or cores having various geometric configurations, depending upon the equipment used.

As is evident, a broom is quickly refilled to a uniform desired thickness with little decision making of the broom winder.

While the bristles 11 were illustrated as having treated center portions, untreated bristles can be used, especially when the bristles have small diameters.

While preferred embodiments have been described, it would be understood that many variations thereof will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit thereof. Therefore, it is intended that the foregoing description shall be deemed illustrative only and not construed in a limiting sense, the present invention being defined solely by the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. Apparatus for rewinding a sweeper broom with bristles, comprising a frame adapted to rotatably support a broom core, an assembly mounted on said frame, means for relatively moving said assembly and core in parallel relation, conveying means carried by. said assembly and conveying in a direction toward said core, a bristle mat holder removably attached to and carried by the assembly and adapted to supply a continuous mat formed of a succession of parallel stiff flexible bristles to said conveying means to be carried thereby towards said core with subsequent portions of said mat being fed from said carrier onto said conveying means, and means sequentially forcing the center portion of said mat from said conveying means into said core, so that opposite legs of said mat radially extend from said core.

2. Apparatus of claim 1, wherein said forcing means is a steel cable under tension and which further maintains said bristles in said core.

3. Apparatus of claim 1, wherein said mat holder comprises a support base, a pair of posts upstanding from said base and defining a mat holding volume, means coupled to said posts for removably attaching said holder to said assembly, and a mat support element mounted above said posts for supporting a portion of said mat prior to it being fed to the conveying means.

4. Apparatus as in claim 3, wherein said mat holder further includes support means extending downwardly from the support base and contacting the ground for supplementally supporting said holder.

5. Apparatus as in claim 1, further including means for rotating the core and simultaneously moving said assembly in predetermined axial relation to the core rotation.

6. A bristle mat storage container which is removably attached to a sweeper broom winding apparatus adjacent the conveyor, comprising a mat support, frame elements extending upwardly at each corner, support members interconnecting said frame elements defining a mat receiving volume, means on one side for removably attaching said container to said broom winding apparatus.

7. A container of claim 6, further including a rounded surface disposed above said frame elements for supporting the portion of the mat leaving said volume prior to being fed onto the conveyor.

8. A container of claim 7, further including a leg extending downwardly from said mat support and having roller means at its free end for engaging the ground and aiding in supporting said container during use.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,209,639 12/1916 Carter 300-21 2,720,423 10/1955 Seavey et al. 30014 2,938,750 5/1960 Koback 300-14 3,351,387 11/1967 Lechene 30021 GRANVILLE Y. CUSTER, JR., Primary Examiner UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent N0. 3:5 a 5 Dated February 2, 197].

Inventor(s) W GOULD It: is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

In the Specification:

Column 3, line 1 Change "tions thereon" to --tions 38 thereon."

Column 3, line 9 Change "rottaably" to --rotatab1 Column line 19- Change "collapsable" to --col1apsible-- Signed and sealed this 3rd day of August 1971 (SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD M.FLETCHER,JR. WILLIAM E. SCHUYLER, J Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patent 

